The Undertaker has been officially retired from professional wrestling for roughly a full year, but the WWE legend is still trying to recover from three decades of battling inside the squared circle. He confirmed in an interview with The Norm and D Invasion show this week that he’ll be undergoing surgery for a new right knee.
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“Both my hips are partial hip replacements already,” he said (h/t PWInsider). “I need, I need a right knee, so I have surgeries lined up. I just…I gotta wait until hunting season is over for [them.]”
He also discussed what he misses about being a wrestler — “I miss performing in front of our live audiences, especially around WrestleMania time.It’s just, you know, it’s the game.I was very blessed to have a very long career where I was active for so many years, but the body can only take so much and deliver so much, and for me that time.I realized at the last WrestleMania that I had, that I did [Wrestlemania 36] that my time had come.”
In a separate interview with the Dallas Morning News, “The Phenom” stated that he felt he could pull off another match, but it wouldn’t live up to the expectations of fans. Undertaker (real name Mark Calaway) announced his retirement last year at the end of his The Last Ride documentary.
“I think it’s always in my head and in my heart, especially getting ready for WrestleMania here at AT&T Stadium it’s just like … man. But it’s just at a point where physically, I can’t perform at a level,” Undertaker said. “I mean, I could go out and walk through something and I could get through a match. But I can’t give people what they expect at this point. When you see Undertaker, you pay money to see that guy wrestle. I can’t deliver physically on what people’s expectations are. … The passion is obviously still there. I think that will always be there. It’s just the physical side of it. … My time has come, my time has gone. This is the WWE and things happen, you never know. But I know that my time has passed and it’s time for these young guys to step up and take over and lead us to where we’re going.”
Do you think Undertaker will ever lace up his boots again? Or will he actually stick to his retirement? Let us know in the comments below!
